Gilmore Girls "The Subsect," by...

Gilmore Girls"The Subsect," by Jess Mariano. Didn't catch the title the first time around. The rebel without a cause pens a novel, gets the thing published, and comes out of the shadows on Compound Gilmore in the middle of the night to present it to Rory. To top it all off, he says he owes it all to her. So what does the title mean? (This is Jess after all, the man of few words who chooses them wisely.) Can you believe I can't find the damn word anywhere? But here's Webster's definition of the word sect: "group or faction, organized ecclesiastical body, course of action, way of life." Hmmm. Perhaps a veiled reference to the privileged world of the elder Gilmores, where social status and money are practically worshipped? So maybe the subsect are the ones who reject that universe? And who'd be the poster child for that group or faction? Think about it: Jess was always the radical, the heartbreaker, the high-school dropout with his nose buried in Kerouac. (Full disclosure: I say all of this with great affection. I loved the bad boy and still do.) Everything Em and Dick despise. And here's his story: He's not sleeping on park benches anymore. He's living in Philly, got a real publishing job and wrote a real book. Without the big bucks. Without the Ivy League education. Without the father holding the keys to the publishing world. To quote his favorite author, he's on the road. Maybe he emerged from the past to remind a disoriented Rory that she is not on the road. And to tell her that it's okay to break away from The Sect, to reject Friday-night dinners, the DAR, the tea parties, "the jerk with the Porsche." Love him or hate him, the guy everyone thought was so wrong for Rory turned out to be so very right.